LETTER TO THE EDITOR | 1967 Redux: The Murder of Anthony Nazaire

ByH. William Fogle Jr. '70 | October 3, 2016

The fatal attack on Ithaca College student Anthony Nazaire and the futile police hunt for his killer bring to mind the still unsolved murders of nine Cornellians ― eight students and one faculty member ― who perished in the April 1967 fire at the Cornell Heights Residential Club (now Hurlburt or Ecology House). Survivors were relocated to other campus and Collegetown lodging; two of these residences suffered fires, Watermargin on May 23 and 211 Eddy Street on May 31. All three fires were confirmed to be arson attacks when evidence of fluid accelerants was found.

Classes ended, the summer break came and when the fall 1967 term began the incendiary attacks were all but forgotten. The Cornell Board of Trustees had imposed a policy of official silence. Neither The Cornell Daily Sun nor the Ithaca Journal made any effort to question officials or report on progress of the criminal investigation: nine cruel homicides, the second greatest loss of life incident in the history of the University.

Now a month has passed since Nazaire was stabbed to death on the Cornell campus. Are we seeing a repeat of the 1967 dereliction by the press? Has any Sun reporter asked the police to produce a timeline? Has the medical examiner’s report been released? Has a weapon been identified? Are there any signs of witness non-cooperation or evasion? What questions have been asked of the authorities? What answers have been rendered? Where is The Cornell Daily Sun?

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